Polk set to speak at PRCC baseball First Pitch Dinner

Ron Polk

POPLARVILLE – The Pearl River Community College baseball team will host its second annual First Pitch Dinner as a way of introducing the 2018 Wildcats to the public. The dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Bender Cafeteria on the PRCC campus.

Former longtime Mississippi State baseball coach Ron Polk will be the featured speaker, and each member of the PRCC team will be introduced.

Polk has been called, “the Father of Southeastern Conference Baseball,” as his success at MSU in the 1980s and ‘90s paved the way for SEC baseball to become a national powerhouse.

In his 35 seasons as a head coach at MSU, Georgia Southern and the University of Georgia, Polk’s teams were 1,373-702-2 (66.1 percent).

At State, his teams won five SEC Tournament championships, made the NCAA Tournament 23 times and advanced to the College World Series eight times. He saw 185 of his players play professionally, with 23 reaching the major leagues.

Polk has served as a volunteer assistant coach at UAB since 2009.

The Wildcats are anticipating a big season this spring after finishing 29-20 and reaching the semifinal round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in 2017.

There will a silent auction and door prizes. Tickets are $30 a person and $15 for those age 15 and under. For more information, contact Coach Michael Avalon at mavalon@prcc.edu.